Beginning Again
by LizzyBorden
Summary: Picks up in the middle of the Soul Eater  Anime  story, but I'm hoping to take it in a different direction soon enough. Stein and Marie. Rated T cause I have no clue what's gonna happen yet...
1. Chapter 1

AN: So this is my first story... not so sure how it will be received, but I'm excited nonetheless! Tell me what you think about it! Be honest to! Good and bad are welcome!

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Soul Eater Or Any Of Its Lovely Characters.

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Chapter One

Marie Mjolnir just wants to retire and start a family. A Death Scythe wants to have a family. Well, that's funny. Kidding aside, can she do that yet? Of course not. And here she is, entering Death City. The last place she wants to be…

"A staff reassignment," Death announced in his normal, over joyous voice. "Spirit, you will stay in the school with me. You are, after all, the only Death _Scythe _I have. So that leaves Stein weaponless. Marie…"

Marie jumped at her name. She had been thinking of an escape plan. _I just want to go back to Oceania_. "Yes, Lord Death?"

"Marie, you are now Stein's weapon. I assume you will cooperate with this plan?" Death tilted his head in questioning motion.

"But, why me? I just want to retire and start a family," Marie complained. "I can't do that if I'm stuck here working as a Death Scythe." Marie glanced over at Stein. A light glare covered his glasses and left his true expression to her imagination. Based on who she had always known him to be, Marie was convinced Steins full expression was that of boredom.

"Marie," Stein placed his hand on her shoulder. She immediately froze and a small shiver went down her spine. It had been so long since she and Stein had spoke, and he had just walked up and touched her openly and deliberately. _When did he even walk over here! He was at least five feet from me just a second ago! I was just looking at him!_ She shook it off and hoped he didn't notice the involuntary reaction to his touch.

Stein didn't seem to notice and continued to speak without hesitation. "I'm certain this won't stop you from starting a family. Your personality does that for you. But since you're here, you should focus on your current situation: do your job."

"I guess so…" Marie agreed dejectedly. _Can I even handle being close to him now?_

"So there it is," Death said. "You are all dismissed, except for Marie. You stay. And Stein, would you please wait outside for her."

The other Death Scythes filed out of the room one by one with Stein bringing up the rear. He looked back at Marie and Death and gave a nod. "I'll be waiting."

Marie shook in fear of what Death would ask her to do next. _No more surprises please… _She thought. _I can't handle anymore of this. I need a husband._

Death looked at Marie. Well, she assumed he was looking at her. It was often difficult to decide what Death was looking at with that mask on his face. "Marie, you need to stay close to Stein. I am aware of the past you two share, but you must set that aside and take care of him now. You have a unique soul wavelength. It will help keep him calm and in check. Be careful though. The madness is infecting him slowly. It grows each day. He knows this and understands that he may grow to be out of control. The madness could take control any day. Despite the risks, I want you to stay in his home. You can protect yourself and keep him sane. I want you to live with him. It will be easier for you to watch him this way."

Marie stood before Death dumbstruck. "Lord Death I—"

She was cut off before she could finish. "I encourage you to follow these orders, Marie."

"Yes, Lord Death. I'll do it." Marie agreed to another mission that would delay her hopes of having a family.

"You are dismissed. Inform Stein that you will be staying with him."

Marie walked slowly out of the Death Room and thought about how she would give the news to Stein. _Lord Death said that I have to stay at your house._ No… that was too blunt. _I'll just tell him that there was such short notice that I will be staying in Death City and that I will have to stay with him. _He would see through that.

She reached the room's exit before she could come up with anything other than the truth.

"What did he want?" Stein asked in his normal monotone voice.

Marie gave him a fake smile and summarized the conversation.

"He wants me to stay at your place because we are partners for now," Marie looked up at him with a weak but convincing smile.

She studied his face for an instant, trying to find the changes in his features since the last time she had seen him. He still had the same rimless glasses and the scar under his left eye. Oddly enough, it was still an attractive feature in her eyes, well, eye. She snapped back to reality when he continued the conversation.

"Fine. But don't blame me if anything strange happens to you." Stein said, cranking the screw slowly, trying to understand why Marie was leaving out important information. He knew all the Death Scythes techniques, personalities, histories, and other seemingly random but necessary information. Knowing all of this gave him the uncanny ability to know when they were lying. Being able to see their souls didn't hurt much either. She could see Marie's soul wavelength in all of its instability since she walked into the hall.

Marie nodded at him. "Are you going home now?" She asked guardedly.

Stein looked at her. "Yes. Get your things and meet me at my home. I will supervise your move-in. I want my things left alone as much as possible. You will have your own room. Leave me alone unless it absolutely necessary for our interaction." He knew the madness would consume him eventually and Marie would be the first in the line of fire if she was going to live there.

"I understand," Marie was slightly shocked at the blunt layout of the rules. _I shouldn't be surprised. This is Stein after all. He needs his space. I don't want to intrude anyway. If I get too close, I might end up falling in love with him again. I've already worked so hard to suppress those feelings once. They don't need to be recovered._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It had been about a month since Marie moved in with Stein. They lived in a balance easy to maintain. Every couple of hours Marie would check in on Stein, offering coffee or whatever meal it was time to eat. She had experimented about once or twice a week with a new recipe, but the meals mostly ended in failure. She ordered some new furniture and tableware to give the plain home, if you could call it a home, more of a woman's touch. Even with the changes she made, Marie didn't change the basic design, figuring Stein would be less likely to succumb to the madness if his surroundings didn't chance dramatically. She left the walls and their stitches untouched as well as all rooms but the living room.

Even with Marie's eccentric personality, Stein didn't change his schedule to suit hers whatsoever. He still spent nearly all of his time in his lab, at the school, or asleep. He let Marie do what she pleased and he was content with their symbiotic relationship. He didn't have to cook for himself or clean up, and Marie seemed happy in her psuedo-housewife mode.

"I have a package for a Marie Mjolnir," the mail carrier announced the best he could in a nervous voice. The look on the carrier's face betrayed all fears he was trying, and failing, to hide.

Stein laughed sadistically to himself. He knew his home scared people out of their wits, and this mail carrier was no exception to that proven fact. Each time the doorbell would ring Stein answered it, expecting a new expression each time. He would observe the visitors' expressions and actions and predict the time they would quit the job that forced them onto his property and at his front door. This mail carrier in particular had visited a quite few times that week due to Marie's habit of ordering new things for his home.

Stein looked at the carrier with a blank stare, "Marie is busy. I can take it."

The carrier stood in shock. Stein grew impatient and began cranking the mechanism he had lodged in his brain. At the louder, final click the carrier jumped out of his lifeless state and handed Stein a bouquet of summer flowers.

"S-s-sign the s-slip, s-sir," the carrier more asked than stated. The man was shaking in his boots, almost literally.

With one quick motion, Stein took a pen from his pocket and the carrier held up a clip board for him to sign. The moment the paper was signed, the carrier was off of the porch and out of Stein's sight.

Stein let out a low laugh and returned to the confines of his home.

"Marie! You have a package! It's on the couch!" he called into the house. The sound reverberated off of the mostly empty walls.

Stein walked towards the couch and threw the flowers nonchalantly onto the nearest cushion. _There, easy to find. Even for her. Time to finish my work. _He walked into the lab, leaving the door slightly open, and began typing some data into his computer.

Seconds later Marie was in the main room looking for the package Stein had mentioned.

"Where did you say it was, Stein?" she asked, looking everywhere but where he had announced it was.

"It's on the couch, Marie. Open your eye," he calmly responded without turning for his computer. "You need to stop ordering things. As much as I enjoy observing the terrified faces of the mail carriers that are forced to come onto my property, I have a feeling this last one is going to quit is job due to mental illness soon."

"But I didn't order any—," she froze when she noticed the bouquet of summer flowers thrown carelessly on the couch.

Out of curiosity, Stein walked silently into the main room to observe Marie.

A blush appeared across Marie's face, glad that she had received such a beautiful gift. She picked up the gift and half of her heart hoped it was from friends back in Oceania. The other half dreamed it was from Stein trying to be clever. Her face, red with joy, became a murderous shade of crimson as she read who the gift was from.

To: Marie Mjolnir

From: Joe Buttataki

Stein slowly turned the screw waiting for what would happen next. Marie's behavior was unpredictable (as usual), but he wasn't sure of the reason yet.

There wasn't much time from when the bouquet left her hand to when they hit the wall with enough force to tear the gift apart. Stein almost wished he had had a stopwatch to time it, get the velocity, the force of impact, the acceleration… After rummaging though the scientific thoughts another thought went through his mind: _How can I make her feel better?_ Confused at the thought he cranked the mechanism a few more clicks to clear his mind. He stood in silence.

Marie fumed. "He broke up with me! The world is going to hell, almost literally! And he's sending me flowers! What the hell!"

Stein saw his chance to understand Marie's outburst. "Who were they from?"

Marie whipped around and saw Stein leaning in the door frame to his lab. Just looking at him and his cool expression settled her emotions enough for her to think clearly. There was no reason for her to behave so irrationally.

She let out a breath and answered softly, "It was Joe."

He wasn't surprised. He honestly should have seen that one coming. But an inkling of a strange emotion had been surfacing since he had that bizarre thought a moment before. Marie didn't see it in his face, but he could feel it. He returned to the dark lab without another word hoping to ignore the strange emotion. _A few more twists should take care of this_. _I need to have clear thoughts. Any foreign emotions must not be tolerated._ _They may have something to do with the madness._ He twisted the screw once more and began typing away.

"I'll clean the mess," Marie announced absentmindedly. There was no reason for her to say it aloud. She was the only one who was willing to clean most of the house.

Stein focused on his work and blocking the madness and unwanted thoughts that threatened him every moment of the day.

An hour or two later, the living area was clean. Marie held two cups of coffee in her hands and had finally convinced herself to offer one to Stein.

She slowly entered the dark room and watched her roommate type at the computer for a moment. He had thrown his usual lab coat to the side and was wearing just his stitched sweater. It definitely suited him. The short sleeves clung to his arms emphasizing the muscles the average person didn't see from day to day.

She shook her head and turned on the florescent lights. The light emanating from the bulbs slowly brightened the room.

"Franken?" she asked quietly.

He stopped typing, turned away from his computer, and took in the sight before him. Marie was wearing a black tank-top and yellow and black sweatpants. It must have been time for her to check on him before she went to bed. After a moment he noticed the coffee mugs in her hands. _So that's what she wants._

"What do you need, Marie?" he asked blatantly.

"I thought you might want some coffee."

Stein eyed her for a moment, waiting for her to spill out her true reason for interrupting him.

Marie handed him a cup of coffee and spoke again. "I want to apologize for my behavior earlier."

"Alright." He turned back around, set the coffee on the desk next to him and began typing.

Marie took that as her sign to leave and headed towards the room's exit. Just before she reached the door, she turned to glance at Stein one last time before she turned in for the night. He had the coffee cup in his hand and had a small smile on his face. Not the normal sadistic smile he usually had, but the true smile of a man glad to have a friend bring him a cup of coffee. Marie left the room and walked towards her bedroom will a small smile on her face.

The scene in the room changed just a moment later. Stein's expression became one of frustration and anger.

"Damn it." He twisted the screw once more and tried to ignore the strange emotions he linked with the madness.


End file.
